"One good rule of thumb whenever one encounters a 'real Jesus' who is radically at odds with the picture offered by the ordinary Tradition, Scripture and magisterial teaching of the Church is to examine the dominant fixations of one's own age and see how much of a Rorschach ink blot test that new 'real Jesus' is. Oddly enough, when liberal Protestantism went gaga for the Social Gospel a hundred years ago, the Real Jesus looked very much like a Social Gospel Protestant a la Albert Schweitzer. When the world went nuts for Marxism, a new Real Jesus suddenly appeared on the scene as the First Marxist preaching the Sermon on the Barricades to the Oppressed Proletariat. Nazism was fond of discovering a Real Jesus who was 'really' an Aryan eager to condemn Judaism and not beholden to his Jewish ancestry. Ironic postmodernity sees an ironic postmodern Jesus, feminism sees a feminist Jesus and New Age 'prophets' see Real Jesus who offer the same sort of pantheistic tapioca they offer. Of the making of 'real Jesuses' there is no end."

I have to say, I didn't know there was a "real Jesus" movement before this century as the Gnostics really didn't see what they were doing as an attempt at history. This stuff, however, is fascinating. He also goes on to talk about how out sexual conceptions are getting projected onto Jesus, etc. I'm still pissed ABC got involved in this debacle.

Oh well. One down, eight zillion to go.